President Obama really likes “green jobs” and really wants the federal government to “invest” in “clean energy technology”. He insists this will strengthen national security, protect the environment and create countless new jobs.

I like fairy tales too. I am a writer of speculative fiction – otherwise known as fantasy. I don’t expect real people to survive in the worlds I create. The question is – does investing in clean energy actually produce lots of new jobs? Has it? To sorta quote Joe Biden, the topic is “Irish”, which is fitting when you’re talking about “green” jobs.

Between 2008 and 2009, California’s green economy grew by 3% while employment in the rest of the state’s economy grew by just 1%. Green jobs account for less than 1% of California’s overall 19 million jobs. In 2011, California’s unemployment rate was 12.5%. There were 2,270,000 (2 ¼ million) unemployed Californians out of…